Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PMO via PTI Photo/File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his previous comments on the state of the Indian economy. Referring to the GDP numbers, which came in on Monday, PM Modi said some people were spreading “jhooth ki goonj [echoes of lies]” at a time when India was progressing against all odds. He was taking a dig at Gandhi’s nationwide ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programme.
PM Modi, who is in on a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, also advised people to avoid gold purchases, foreign travel and destination weddings abroad.
The BJP, meanwhile, pointed to Rahul Gandhi’s tweet a year ago, where he said that the “Indian economy is dead” and said: “India is growing, expanding and moving forward at an unprecedented speed.”
Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on July 31, 2025.
Prime Minister Modi lauded India’s robust economic momentum on Monday following the release of the RBI’s official data showing a 7.8% expansion in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of FY27 (April–June). Addressing the nation in a video message shared on X, the Prime Minister attributed the performance to the “collective strength” and hard work of the Indian workforce.
“The world is drowned in uncertainties and yet India is progressing by leaps and bounds. Amid this, some people are spreading pessimism and ‘jhooth ki goonj‘,” PM Modi said. The comment was a slight at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ student-focused events.
Gandhi and the Congress kicked off the Chhatron ki Goonj programme in Kota, Rajasthan, on June 17 to protest paper leaks, cancelled/delayed examinations, irregularities in various examinations, non-availability of government job vacancies, and opacity in the examination systems. Gandhi has attended several of these public meetings in Kota, Patna, Delhi, Dehradun, and Allahabad.
Soon after the GDP numbers came in, PM Modi pushed for ‘Swadeshi Bharat’ and ‘Vocal for local’ policies. He said, since the Indian economy is growing fast, Indians should consider vacations and destination weddings within the country.
“We must build on the momentum of 7.8% GDP growth. For that, swadeshi and vocal for local must be promoted. If we are going abroad for vacations, we must stop. If we are having weddings outside, we must stop. We must live by the mantra of ‘wed in India’,” he said.
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He further said: “If possible, we must avoid buying gold unnecessarily. The more we push ‘swadeshi’, the better of a ‘Viksit Bharat [Developed India]’ we can gift our youth when India completes 100 years.”